Foreshadow
by NoteEmmy
Summary: A widowed Pegasus runs into a brutish man at one of his banquets. He warns him about his behavior.


It was rare to see the young man out. No one had heard anything about him since the tragic hand he'd been dealt. Most assumed he was going to waste away into nothingness. He'd seemed a truly shattered man after the death of his newlywed wife. Most of the events run by him had had his presence completely missing in that time. So most of the attendees of the charity function that had showed up that night were shocked to see him descend the stairs.

Pegasus looked awful. Still so young yet the pallor in his face, the hollows of his cheeks and the gray aura that surrounded him wherever he walked could have easily been the look of someone in their forties. Most guests took pity on him and stayed out of his way. Though he'd somehow pulled what little of himself he had left together and shown up to his own function, he didn't seem to be the amiable host he usually was. No one blamed him.

He'd taken to glasses of wine, though most were left on table corners as he passed by. He hadn't really wanted to drink. It just looked better to have a long-stemmed wine glass delicately held between his fingers. Pegasus was trying his very best to look the picture of someone who hadn't just lost everything important to him. Trying and, he knew, failing miserably. He knew he'd had to pull himself together. The stocks of his company were falling to the lowest numbers they'd been in some time. His late father would have been appalled.

The only way to fix it was to prove to the world that he wasn't dead. Not like… Cyndia. The mere thought had a shudder tensing in his shoulders and his eyebrows twitching together. His bodyguard for the evening put a careful hand to him, trying to steady him. Pegasus thanked him once he calmed himself with a dull nod and a pat on the back of his hand. After he resumed floating through the room with carefully light steps and a dead smile. It was the most he could do.

Someone took the banquet's stage and he sat at the head table, poking at food he really had no inclination to eat. One of his table partner's was chewing on the end of a cigar and blowing smoke his way. It disgusted him but he was too tired to do anything about it. On any normal night he might have told the classless man to go elsewhere. He hardly remembered who had been on the guest list. He surely couldn't place the man's face to any memory he knew.

All Pegasus could piece together was that he must have at least had money enough to buy a plate here. His charity balls weren't cheap. All for the better, though. He tried to keep his head down, running a hand through his silver hair, sigh escaping him as the head speaker went on. The man was nice enough not to call attention to him, though Pegasus had seen to that far before the evening had even gotten started. He didn't need the spotlight. Not right now. Not yet.

Once the speeches were over with he escaped from his place at the head table, thinking it might be time to call it a night. Finally he'd indulged at the wine that was given to him at the table, but only enough to empty half his glass. He knew he should have put it down. Nothing had become clearer than that when that cruel looking man stopped short in front of him, causing him to walk right into a broad chest.

Causing him to spill the rest of his glass onto what was no doubt an expensive suit jacket.

"Excuse me." He toned meekly, reaching into his own jacket to retrieve a handkerchief.

"Excuse you? Do you have any idea how much money of mine you just threw away?" The English was heavily accented. Pegasus picked out the man's language once he looked up into his face for the first time.

He was just glad there wasn't another cigar poking out of his mouth. "Much more than you care to admit, I'm sure. It's not polite, after all." Smiling lightly and dabbing at his suit.

A large, meaty hand came down on the frail wrist at the man's jacket, causing a wince. "You think you're funny?"

"Hardly." Straight faced now, eyes watchful. "But I'm sure Mr. Crocketts got the joke, isn't that so?" Then suddenly smiling again as he turned to his bodyguard who had already drawn a gun.

The taller Japanese man shrugged him off, but let go of the wrist, no fool clearly. "This will be the last time I ever waste money on your organization. Here I thought I might find a business partner. Instead I find a limp fool."

Pegasus straightened out his own jacket and stood as tall as he was able, regarding the other with a clear and sudden seriousness. "Let's hope you don't treat all your potential business partners this way, else you might be out of a job. And soon."

Eyes narrowed beneath thick bushy brows. "Is that a threat?"

"Heavens no! Just… speculation." The smile he wore then was cruel. Without any hesitation he reached up to pat the larger shoulder just begging to be touched with its stiffness. And then he took a step forward, intending to walk past him. But not before looking up once close enough and speaking with a quieter tone. "Humble that attitude of yours. It's one that begs to be toppled."

The large stranger laughed him off and walked away. Pegasus' bodyguard stayed close, watching him leave. Once out of the hall and hopefully gone for good, the young man sagged slightly, easing a breath out. He didn't waste much time to getting back up the stairs and into his own private estate. The nearest chair that he could find out of the reach of the noise from the banquet he fell into.

His fingers found his hair, running cleanly through. What was the point in going to all this trouble? Without Cyndia, was any of it worth it?

"Who was that man?" He didn't really care, but the overwhelming thoughts of his deceased wife threatened to do him in. He needed to speak about something else as a distraction.

"Gozaburo Kaiba, sir. He heads a military weapons company."

Pegasus rolled his eyes. "Brute." He sagged more into his chair, feeling ill. "I hope I never have to hear that name again."


End file.
